Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Fire destroys Diamond property
– Millions gone
A Diamond, East Bank Demerara businessman, on his way to insure his property
THE OWNER OF THE HOUSE
yesterday, got the biggest shock of his life after learning that it was on fire.
Shazam Hamid, and his wife Regina Fernandez, of lot 686 Fifth Street, Diamond New Scheme, East Bank Demerara lost millions and are now contemplating how they will repay the mortgage they took to construct their home.
The fire is believed to have started because of a four-burner gas stove some time before 10:00 am yesterday, just a few minutes after Hamid left to visit the Guyana Trinidad Mutual and Life Insurance Company (GTM) to insure his property.
Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle, concluded that the fire was caused by the four-burner gas stove.
The couple, who lived at the location for six years, recently opened a wholesale shop. Residents believed the flammable items helped the fire to spread throughout the property.
“The fire start inside the house but people saw it too late. We saw it when it went big inside the house by then we couldn’t do anything. Neighbours tried to break the door and windows but the grill work prevented everything,” a neighbour said.
“The only thing we save was some bleach which was at the door. But the whole thing is that people get to know about the fire too late,” a resident, Edson Larose claimed.
Another resident, who refused to give her name said that while persons formed a bucket brigade and were trying to put-out the fire, “the fire caught on to GPL wire and it start jump and everybody run out.”
Two fire tenders arrived at the scene but were unable to save anything; residents said that the fire tender arrived without water. But a senior firefighter refuted what was reported.
He claimed that no fire tender can arrive at a scene without water. “We did arrive with water but the water was not enough to extinguish the fire so we called for a back-up tender.”
He also said that some people look at the size of the fire truck and think “water is in the whole truck but what they don’t know is that inside those trucks there is a container with water.”
Kaieteur News understands that drivers using the East Bank Demerara public road did not cooperate with the fire tender. “The drivers were on their phones and they were not pulling aside and I think that was the only challenge we faced yesterday,” the officer said.
Hamid, who arrived at the scene in a taxi, minutes after the fire was put out broke down in tears. He held on to his mother after seeing only the four concrete walls of what he once called “home.”
Hamid and his mother embrace
“When I leave home this morning, my home was very good and I expected to come back and get my home how I leave it this morning. But I don’t know what transpired in my house,” a distraught Hamid said.
“…Before I reach the valuation office this morning I got a call saying ‘your house is on fire’. I couldn’t do nothing more because I was in tears. The officer told me that I left the stove on but I know to myself that is not true and I will deal with all the matters.
A distressed Hamid recalled an incident which occurred earlier that morning. “Around 2:30 this morning all the lights for my house came off so I look out and see the neighbours lights were on so I try to pull the main fuse up and down to see if the lights would come on because normally the breaker would come down and fly up but after I did that, the light didn’t come on so I leave the switch up.”
He claimed that he was supposed to visit Guyana Power and Light, yesterday, to enquire what had happened with the “current” to his house.”
Kaieteur News understands that the man’s wife, Fernandez, had left home early yesterday morning to attend an interview for a job.
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